Liver transplant mother backs appeal for donors

While the number of donors increased to a ten-year high last year, there are still three people who die each day while waiting for a transplant and the Scottish Government wants more people to join the organ donor register.

A new television commercial, called Spare Clare, was launched yesterday along with billboard posters, radio promotions and direct marketing.

The campaign has the backing of Claire Riley, 33, who received a new liver in a transplant operation six years ago.

Ms Riley, from Perth, started suffering severe stomach pains in her twenties.

Doctors diagnosed ulcer colitis and treated the condition with medication, but it developed into chronic liver disease and in 2004, doctors decided she needed a transplant.

Just six weeks later she and her husband Dave received the news that a liver had been found.

At the time of the operation, Ms Riley weighed just six and a half stone and was suffering from jaundice.

Since the transplant, the couple have had two sons, Harrison, who was born in 2006, and Blair, who is 14 weeks old.

Ms Riley said: "Being given the gift of life has allowed me to live a full life, free of pain and anxiety.

"I have been able to go on and have a family of my own. I now have two young sons and no longer lie on the couch unable to move from tiredness – I can play and have fun with my wonderful children like any other healthy, happy mother.

"I would be very grateful, as would hundreds of families throughout the country whose loved ones are still waiting on a transplant, if you could support this campaign.

"This year's campaign encourages Scots to think if they would Spare Clare – Yes or No? As a Claire who has been spared, I can only urge people to give the gift of life.

"Just ask yourself one question – if your friend, family member or work colleague needed an organ, would you want them spared?"

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said there were 72 organ donors last year – the highest number for a decade.

"Organ transplants transform lives and mean that something positive can come out of a loved one's death," she said.

"In Scotland, as well as getting more people on the register, we're working to increase the number of transplants carried out by investing in more donor transplant co-ordinators and raising awareness. And our efforts are paying off.

"But we can do more and we want to build on our achievement, particularly as international comparisons show we should be able to more than double this number."

She added: "I've seen the difference a transplant can make and, by signing up to the organ donor register, we can all become potential lifesavers and give the gift of life."

Scotland's lead clinician for organ donation and transplantation John Forsythe said:

"We hope that the publicity campaign encourages more to think about this difficult subject and perhaps we will increase further the number of transplants carried out in the country."